Keeping It Simple is Key

I just returned from a 10 day vacation in Costa Rica. I got to do all sorts of great things - ziplines through the rainforest canopy, swimming at the base of waterfalls, deserted beaches, hikes through the forest, crazy creatures at every turn. It was awesome!

When you leave all your possessions behind and throw on a backpack, it is liberating. No cell phone, no blackberry, no email, no watches, nothing to manage. Just a solid element of simplicity. Am I hungry? Do I need a beer? What do I want to do now? This is why I am always suggesting that people maximize their vacation.

It was one thing for me to leave some of my complication behind. But visiting with the locals, seeing what they own, what they operate with each day, is something else. The average Costa Rican makes between $350 and $400 USD per month. Not exactly enough to buy a new laptop each year or a Starbucks coffee each day. Yet they are the happiest people. They are well-educated and gracious, good spirited and helpful. They generally have less to manage, which from my perspective, makes life easier and more enjoyable.

This puts the amount of complication we allow into our lives into perspective. I tend to have a lot of complication - 5 companies, a home, a car, rental properties, friends, yoga, hockey, family, piano lessons, etc. Sometimes it's a race to see if I can fill all the hours in a week.

I sat and read for hours on vacation and loved it - a fictional novel no less! I tell clients this all the time - take more time to read. Take more time to have a coffee or just sit. Take more time to do something you love.

If you narrow down what you love to do and put that ahead of all your complications, life is better. My opinion of course. I just found that taking some time each day since I returned to read more, to enjoy a coffee with a walk or even just to take a cellphone/email timeout, keeps life simpler and richer. I encourage you to make a list of all the things that are responsibilities of yours. Once you start to list your responsibilities over a week, you realize how many you have. Too many for most of us. So now start to plan into your week - breaks and time to do things you love doing. If you don't make it part of your schedule to do things you love and that simplify your life, you will never get to them.